The Zero Theorem

[Drunk Monk]

The latest from Terry Gilliam. It's very Brazil/12 Monkeys with its armchair philosophy and existential ambiguity. Set in an Orwellian dystopia where Rocky Horror lips replace Big Brother's unblinking stare, Christoph Waltz is a neurotic IT nerd who lives in an abandoned church and is tasked to telecommute while working on the Zero Theorem for Mancom manager (big brother) Matt Damon. Waltz plays a giant 3D tetris game trying to discover if all adds up to naught. The effects owe a lot to Blade Runner, although there's that sardonic twist of Gilliam's that keeps things a little fresh with some good comments on social media and 'puters (yea, like tg said - just wanna pinch them). Melanie Theiry is super seductive as Waltz's VR call girl, somewhat reminiscent (or redundant) of Uma's Venus in Munchhausen. Lucas Hedges steals the scene as the young IT virtuoso. Tilda Swinton is great as Waltz's virtual shrink (just to hear her rap is worth it). HP factor of one (Prof Lupin as Waltz's toady middle manager). It's not as mind-blowing as Gilliam's previous works, in fact, it feels a little tired, a little been-there-done-that, but it still has its moments. Being raised on Gilliam animation, some of his visuals still capture my imagination.

It's on iTunes now and will have a limited theatrical release next month. It is very visual and would probably be better on the silver screen, but it was fine on a big screen TV as it's not a major work of Gilliam's.